Anthony Bourdain Eats Ants, Swallows

We're in a bit of a time warp here, since I am writing about an episode (Laos) which aired many weeks ago (July 7) of a trip that Tony and the crew took many months prior. It's a little confusing, I know, but since part of the pleasure of No Reservations is that it is essentially timeless, I am muddling forward through the space-time continuum and am glad you are coming along for the ride.

I have never been to Laos, but I have traveled throughout SE Asia on two separate trips, taken almost 10 years apart-the first time as a post-collegiate backpacker, the second time with food-writer friends who treated me to a luxurious experience in the finest hotels. The food, of course, was crazy good, whether in the dining room of the Peninsula hotel or off some back alley in Kanchanaburi. Even now, the smell of a kaffir lime leaf sends me right back. (What is it about smells and memory? An amazing phenomenon.)

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As to be expected, there was some grossness, some weird bits, and always a dose of beauty. A pile of crawling ants made into an omelette? No thanks. (Just to let you know—I am very open minded about food and will eat almost anything. But a pile of bugs is past my limit; that's the stuff of my nightmares!) Whole swallows popped into the mouth? I shudder thinking about the teeny-tiny bones, and the bitter taste of brains and innards. (Hmm, maybe I am not as open minded as I thought I was.)

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I was touched by the scenes at the mysterious Plain of Jars; it's like Stonehenge, but with pottery. It's funny how the show is so usually full of attitude and zing that when Tony's reaction or narration gets contemplative, as happened several times throughout this episode, it can verge on sentimental.

But there is always something in each episode that keeps the whole thing from getting too maudlin—and it usually involves excessive amounts of alcohol enjoyed with a roomful of locals cracking up with this random stranger.

I like that they started out the season on a serious note, with that sharp awareness of Laos's past. So y'know, I'll take a little sentimentality from Tony et al., since I know that there'll be a plate of bugs and a cup of moonshine at the next stop.

Seems that some of his fans disagree, though: go to the message boards for the show, and you'll see that a number of people were disturbed by the political content in that Laos episode. There's no pleasing everybody.

The Travel Channel website has some great extras for fans of the show: to view a clip from the Laos episode, click here. (The fact that the video is preceeded by a Pampers commercial, I find vaguely amusing.) For tips on traveling to Laos, check out the No Reservations travel tips page here, or surf over to Lonely Planet, my favorite guidebook for that part of the world.